Best of

the Twin Cities

Best Record Label

Forged Artifacts

We last named Forged Artifacts our Best Record Label in 2013, just a year after Matt Linden formed his cassette-centric imprint. Since then, our Best Of issue has celebrated two of the label’s compilations and countless bands who released albums on Forged Artifacts, including this year’s Best Rock Band, Scrunchies. But the more prominent names on the label roster only tell half the story. Forged Artifacts released 18 cassettes in 2019, some from groups that might be unfamiliar to even regular local show-goers, but who make the kind of solid, inventive music that helps hold a scene together, and is worth exploring further.